Traveling by myself. I’ll call this a very late 35th birthday gift to myself. First time in Japan. Probably have and will overload myself, but I won’t get an opportunity like this for a long time.
3/24-25 – Travel to Japan. Land at 5 pm @ NRT. Customs, pocket wifi, exchange vouchers for passes if JR office is open, Keisei Skyliner to Ueno, check in, get a bite to eat, then deal with jetlag.
3/26-29 – Leg one in Tokyo. Anime Japan(?)/Teamlab Planets, Ueno/Nippori, Asakusa, Day trip to Saitama.
3/30-31 – Start one JR Pass, Kinosaki. Onsens and Ryokan stays incoming. My one splurge.
4/1-2 – Hiroshima. Atomic bomb areas, Hiroshima castle, Itsukushima island.
4/3-4 – Okayama. Okayama castle, Okayama Korakuen, Naoshima Island?
4/5-10 – Osaka. Osaka Castle, Shrines, Gardens, Parks, Umeda Sky Building, Asahi beer and Mister Donut museums, Day trip to Nara. Maybe slate a day trip to Kyoto for extra coverage.
4/11-15 – Kyoto. Fushimi Inari, Temples, shrines, Hanamikoji Street, Tenryu-ji, Bamboo forest… Probably the most dense as far as places I want to see. If I miss things, just gives me another reason to come back here on a future trip.
4/16-17 – Nagoya. Nagoya castle, Meijo Park Flower Plaza, Hisaya Odori Park, Toyota Museum of Industry…
4/18-19 – Shizuoka. Sunpu Castle park, Nihondaira, Kunozan Toshogu.
4/20-21 – Hakone. Get Hakone free pass, more onsens, pirate ship, ropeway…
4/22-23 – Yokohama. Yokohama Chinatown, Red Brick Warehouse, Cup Noodles museum, Yokohamabashi shopping district.
4/24-29 – Leg two in Tokyo. Shinjuku, Harajuku, Shibuya, Yoyogi Park, Nakano Broadway, Inokashira park/Kichijoji, Tokyo Tower/Hamarikyu Gardens, Roppongi, Akihabara… Whatever I didn’t get to will be covered in the third Tokyo Leg.
4/30-5/1 – Pop second JR pass. Takayama. Miyagawa Morning market, Sanmachi Suji, Takayama Jinya, Hida Takayama town museum, Takayama Sky Park.
5/2-3 – Kanazawa. Omicho Market, Higashi Chaya District, Kenroku-en, Kanazawa Castle park.
5/4-5 – Niigata. Imayotsukasa sake brewery, Niigata Bandaijima Art Museum, Manga animation museum…
5/6-10 – Sendai. Day trip to Tashirojima, Day trip to Aomori. Yuriage Harbor Morning Market, Sendai Castle ruins, Sendai Morning market, AER Observation Terrace.
5/11-12 – Mito. Hitachi Seaside park, Senba Lake.
5/13-19- Tokyo leg 3. On top of what I missed in leg two, daytrips to Fujikawaguchiko, and Nikko. Looking to catch a sumo match day too. Hit the places I really liked the first time and explore if I get through my list.
5/20 – Leave Japan from NRT @ 5:30pm to head back home.
Two 7 day JR Rail Pass vouchers will be purchased beforehand. Travel back to Tokyo from Kyoto will be on local trains (Big reasons why I’m stopping at Shizuoka and Nagoya on the way back) and will be traveling with a backpack with smaller day packs as well as a 146-148 cm roller bag with a smaller roller bag inside.